I have a story to tell

September 17, 2009

“I have a story to tell.”

Those were her words. She’s fourteen years old. There should be no story to tell. Her life should be Gossip Girl and first boyfriends, shopping trips and late night giggles. She shouldn’t have a story to tell yet.

But Mary does.

She has a story about cancer. Having cancer and beating it three times….about bone marrow transplant…about what makes her different…special…a fighter.

I got the email that Mary wanted to talk to me about starting a blog of her own.

“I want to write a book someday, but I think I’ll start with a blog.”

I couldn’t help but smile, isn’t that the blogger’s mantra?

We talked about her cancer, her dreams, her need to share her words with the world.

We talked about Blogger vs. WordPress, how to do a blogroll, picking a good name for her blog that would stick with her for a long time.

And a part of my heart broke off because anyone who’s never been a part of the cancer world doesn’t know that a long time is relative for kids like Mary.

It could be years….it could be months…it could be days.

Before we hung up Mary asked my advice on picking a laptop. We chatted computers for a little while after she told me how badly she wanted one, especially for when she’s in the hospital like she is now, and how her parents are saving up to hopefully get her one for Christmas.

After I hung up the phone I had a good long cry. Partly sadness that this amazing girl has to deal with this disease….partly joy that for a moment I got to listen to her and be touched by her enthusiasm and never-give-up spirit.

I tweeted out that I wanted to run a fundraiser on my blog to try and raise enough money to buy her laptop.

She needs that laptop to tell her story.

That tweet was picked up by a dear friend who passed the story along…to the right people…people who could make Mary’s need a thing of the past.

Friday Mary is going to be surprised when someone walks into her hospital room and hands her a package. I wish I could be there to see her face when she opens that bag and sees her story.

Waiting to be written.

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Since I’m not going to be having the “Let’s Get Mary A Laptop” fundraiser, I have something else to offer you as a way to help kids like Mary and my Peyton.

OneHope Wine is a winery that donates portions of their profits to different charities. They have different wines for different charities benefiting causes like AIDS, breast cancer, autism and our troops.

They have provided me a code CCA and if you use this code to purchase ANYTHING from their site you get 10% off your purchase and 20% of the sale will be going to the Childhood Cancer charity of my choice. I know.

AWESOME, right?

I have chosen Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation as the benefiting charity from this effort. I hope that together we can make a significant donation on behalf of the many children who are surviving and battling cancer…and especially in honor of those that have lost the fight.

Use the code CCA during your checkout process at ONEHOPE Wine, it will ask you for a promotional code. Remember, the code will give you 10% off your purchase and 20% of your sale will go to Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation.

If you’d like to spread the word on your own blog, Facebook or Twitter, please do so!

What an awesome story! I am constantly reminded why I truly love this community we are a part of. I can't wait to welcome this young brave woman in our community and help support her. You rock Anissa You Rock!

About Anissa

Erma Bombeck said something that pretty much defines my approach to life....
"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and I could say, "I used everything you gave me." If you switch the word TALENT for LOVE or LAUGHTER or HAPPINESS....it still stands.